Mechnical checks of vehicles

[tezzadone4]

Can anyone help with some garages that might do an inspection of vechiles you might want to buy to have them checked out so as you do not buy a lemon. Thanks

[pubstud]

No sorry you just cannot trust the Thais, sad to say this but that's how it is. The Thais at the garages will tell you the car's a great buy even if they know it's a piece of shit. Why? Well two reasons. They like to support each other so they don't want to put the farang off from paying his money to another Thai. And two, after you buy the piece of shit car and need expensive repairs the chances are you'll come back to that same garage because you have already established contact with them. You can only trust farang on this, so search around for a farang who is a mechanic or has sound mechanical knowledge and offer him a carton of beer to check the car for you.

[Lok Jit]

Sometimes? The Big Dealerships tend to be a little more Honest then a shop sitting on a lone street..Compression check and other critical Checks they have most of the equipment to do a decent job if your allowed to watch them?

[stevxpl]

Take the car you are interested to Test Car, they are in Bangkok and give the car a good look over for any problems along with running it on a Dyno for a basic assessment of the engine. I used them when I bought my car 3 years ago and they gave a pretty good independent assessment of the car.

 

If you are not buying in Bangkok or can't get the car up to Bangkok then make sure you take someone with you that is very mechanically minded, half the cars on the road are simply not maintained and it becomes more so once the car is out of warranty.

[pubstud]

Take the car you are interested to Test Car, they are in Bangkok and give the car a good look over for any problems along with running it on a Dyno for a basic assessment of the engine. I used them when I bought my car 3 years ago and they gave a pretty good independent assessment of the car.

 

If you are not buying in Bangkok or can't get the car up to Bangkok then make sure you take someone with you that is very mechanically minded, half the cars on the road are simply not maintained and it becomes more so once the car is out of warranty.

 

 

Just bear in mind if you are going to take a car from a dealer to this place or any similar place to have the car checked out then the dealer is not going to allow you to just drive away, the dealer or someone from his yard will be coming with you, and he will be chatting away in Thai to the people making the inspection. So how much do you trust Thais? Is it possible that the dealer says to the mechanic - hey mate give this car a clean bill of health and I'll kick you back 500Bt?

 

The only really sure safe way a farang with no knowledge of mechanics can have a 2nd hand car checked out in Thailand is to find a fellow farang with good mechanical knowledge to look it over. And that shouldn't be hard to do. If I was looking at 2nd hand cars in Pattaya car yards, I'd post on this forum for someone to meet me and check it out in return for a carton of cans. That'll be a fair enough deal for an hours work.

[LazyJay]

better learn some thai, make it known to who you are dealing with you speak and understand and you will get ripped off a lot less mate ;)

[tezzadone4]

Thanks pubstud kiniyow stevxpl very much appreciated. I am learning a little jaylovely1980.

[chris2004]

I would never buy a second hand vehicle in Thailand, the mind boggles. Think how many things could be wrong, mechanical, outstanding finance, price too high etc. Plus second hand cars are so expensive it's best IMO to pay a bit more and go for new.

[pubstud]

I've bought 3 second cars during my time in Thailand, just cant afford a new one and agree that would be the best way to go. I know very little about mechanics so every time I've bought one of these cars I've done my searching of the car yards, narrowed down my choices, then brought a mate along who knows more than me for a final check. All 3 cars have turned out being reasonably good buys. The big thing with second hand cars in Thailand are the ACs, unlike back home where the AC gets used for a few months in the year, in Thailand the ACs are on full blast all day year in year out. So they get a hammering. And fixing ACs is expensive. Never buy a second hand car when the AC is blowing warm air and the dealer says it needs gas. Bullshit it needs gas, it's fucked for sure, and costs a bomb to replace.

[joseph44]

Try A.C.T.; a car repair franchise all over Thailand.

They check the car according to an extensive list and give you a report on repairs and the estimated amount. Can be used for negotiations.

 

Cost will be somewhat between THB 500 - THB 1000.

 

In Pattaya, there is an A.C.T., 3 kms past Tesco Lotus along Sukhumvit, direction Sattahip. Just pass the Caltex gas station.

In Chonburi, there is one next to Makro.

[astralrecon]

i worked in rac for 15 years,plus a diesel fitter,ex army,r.e.m.e

so now i know i could top up my wallet ,when i retire there

do some part time recon of moters ,have done spanish mot,s,too,bit strange ,but did a few brit cars there

also done some marine diesels too,boats,would love to rebuild a long tail boat,awesome bit of kit

i hired a bike once,in samui,was a bit of a reck,rode it round to there garage,thai machanics in flip flops,was funny

said fix it myself,brakes were shot,had access to there tool box,was fun

made some good thai friends there,they take me out for a few drinks,see a thai brothel,for thais,that was different

i think i would like to open a garage there,when i retire,as i get bored so easily,i like to fix things

seems there is a opertunatey ,well be a while yet,before i retire,still working in u.k

[LazyJay]

i worked in rac for 15 years,plus a diesel fitter,ex army,r.e.m.e

so now i know i could top up my wallet ,when i retire there

do some part time recon of moters ,have done spanish mot,s,too,bit strange ,but did a few brit cars there

also done some marine diesels too,boats,would love to rebuild a long tail boat,awesome bit of kit

i hired a bike once,in samui,was a bit of a reck,rode it round to there garage,thai machanics in flip flops,was funny

said fix it myself,brakes were shot,had access to there tool box,was fun

made some good thai friends there,they take me out for a few drinks,see a thai brothel,for thais,that was different

i think i would like to open a garage there,when i retire,as i get bored so easily,i like to fix things

seems there is a opertunatey ,well be a while yet,before i retire,still working in u.k

 

just be careful you have the correct visa, some nasty jelous people out there who may love to stitch you up if you have a successful little earner but don't have a business visa/work permit.

 

You make have to employee 4 thai's to legally have a garage business.

 

good luck!

[asingh]

I bought a 26 yr old used Mercedes from Inter-City cars on Sukhumvit (Caltex station near Pattaya Klang). Martin, the Swiss owner is a great guy and an experienced mechanic. Never had problems and always got good advice from him. Price was good too.